


Friend at First Sight

by thehelldoievenputhere



Series: Friendtacles [1]
Category: Captain Marvel (2019), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Autistic Ben Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves is Alive, Gen, Sensory Overload, Stimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 12:09:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18388163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehelldoievenputhere/pseuds/thehelldoievenputhere
Summary: Ben and Goose meet





	Friend at First Sight

**Author's Note:**

> my first time trying to write an autistic character, feedback welcome:)

It was when they first started to go on missions that Ben first noticed it. He wasn't used to lots of people, and didn't like the bright flashes, especially not when he was feeling weak and shaky and just wanted to burrow himself in a nest of the softest blankets and pillows in the house, lights off, and watch his lava lamp.

He was looking down, avoiding the flashes, trying not to fidget at the way his uniform _itched_ , scraping across his skin at every twitch, or how the blood, still warm, was getting tack, smothering him. He was trying to breathe and not panic, when he saw it. Sat on the curb on the other side of the street, was a cat. He's never seen an actual, real-life cat before, but then he'd never been out of The Academy before, either. It didn't look like the one from his younger self's favourite book, that ate six dinners. This one was ginger, and it was staring at him.

They left soon after he'd spotted the cat, but he couldn't stop thinking about it. He didn't think cats were supposed to stare at you like they knew you better than you knew yourself. But what did he know? He'd never met a cat, after all.

He kept seeing the cat after that, every time they were out on a mission, and every time the cat was staring at him. The more he saw the cat, the more felt like he _knew_  it. He couldn't explain it, he just felt like there was something familiar about the cat, that made him feel funny inside, not like when he summoned the tentacles, but not _not_  like when he summoned the tentacles. It was weird and he didn't understand it, but he liked it.

He saw it more and more often, when he looked out of a window at The Academy, there was a ginger cat sitting across the street, staring at him.

So one day, after a training session worse than any previous one, he had just built his blanket nest and turned the lights off, when there was a scratch at his window. Without turning the light on, he opened the window, and was not surprised to see the cat jump in.

He left the window ajar, so the cat could get out, and returned to his blanket nest where the cat was waiting for him. He turned on his lava lamp and settled into his nest before the cat walked over and settled on his chest.

"Hello," Ben said, moving his hand to gently stroke the soft fur on top of the cat's head. He saw the nametag on the cat's collar, "Goose."

~HELLO.~ Ben blinked. He didn't know cats could talk. But then most people couldn't see ghosts or teleport, so who was he to judge? Goose headbutted his hand. ~CAN YOU SCRATCH BEHIND MY EARS?~

"Okay," Ben said, hands a bit slow and hesitant as they moved to do as they were told. Goose started vibrating— _purring_ —on top of him.

~YOU'RE NOT LIKE OTHER HUMANS.~

"I know." Ben turned away, watching the lava lamp, sometimes eye contact got too much for him, apparently even with a cat. "I'm a—I have powers." Goose headbutted his hand and he realised he'd stopped his scratching, so he moved his fingers.

~CAN YOU FEEL OUR CONNECTION?~

"Maybe? I—I feel... _something,_ but I don't—don't get it." Ben's fingers twitched where they had shifted to scratch under Goose's chin.

~WE'RE THE SAME, YOU AND I.~ Ben furrowed his eyebrows and turned his head to half-face Goose while still watching the lava lamp. ~YOUR ABILITIES ARE MORE THAN THE MERE "POWERS" YOU BELIEVE THEM TO BE.~ _What?_

"But they _are_  powers. All of us have them—except Vanya. It's because of how we were born." Goose _scoffed_.

~THAT MAY BE TRUE FOR THE OTHERS, BUT NOT YOU. WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT YOUR ABILITIES?~ Ben gently sucked his lip between his teeth before answering.

"I know the tentacles I summon come from another dimension. Um..." Ben turned his attention back to the lava lamp. "It hurts when I summon them because powerful eldritch beings don't much like bowing to the will of others, let alone beings weaker than them. Uh... that's about it, I think."

~THE REASON IT HURTS WHEN YOU BRING THE TENTACLES OUT IS BECAUSE YOU'RE WRONG. YOU DON'T SUMMON THEM FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION, THEY EXIST IN A POCKET DIMENSION INSIDE OF YOU.~ Ben _swore_  that the lava lamp stopped for a moment, the bubbles suspended, motionless, in the water.

"They're part of me?" Ben asked in horror. "How do you know? You're a cat. And you don't even know me." Goose shifted, slightly, curling up.

~I AM NOT A CAT THOUGH. I KNOW BECAUSE OF OUR CONNECTION, BECAUSE WE ARE THE SAME EXCEPT IN PHYSICAL FORM. I AM FLERKEN.~

"You have tentacles in a pocket dimension inside of you?" Ben asked sceptically.

~YES.~

After that night, Goose visiting Ben became a regular thing. So regular, in fact, that Ben left his window open, except on the coldest of nights.

**Author's Note:**

> have more written, please make me post it (i hate executive dysfunction)  
> (feel free to point out any mistakes/typos)


End file.
